Love of the Cross

This Black Saturday, let us all contemplate on the love of the Cross, the chief instrument of our salvation.

In the Cross is salvation, in the Cross is life, in the Cross is protection against our enemies, in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the Cross is strength of mind, in the Cross joy of spirit, in the Cross the height of virtue, in the Cross the perfection of holiness.

There is no salvation of the soul, nor hope of everlasting life, but in the Cross. Take up therefore thy Cross and follow Jesus, and thou shalt go into everlasting life. He went before, bearing His Cross, and died for thee on the Cross; that thou also might bear thy Cross and desire to die on the Cross.

For if thou be dead with Him, thou shall also in like manner live with Him. And if thou share His punishment, thou shall also share His glory. Behold! in the Cross all does consist, and in our dying all lieth; for there is no other way unto life, and unto true inward peace, but the way of the holy Cross, and of daily mortification.

(Thomas A. Kempis from The Imitation of Christ)

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Our Blessed Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez:

"Whoever loves Me loves the Cross, and whoever loves the Cross loves me. Only those who love the Cross and embrace it willingly for love of Me will possess Eternal Life. Whoever generously accepts the Cross walks in true light, follows a straight and sure path, with no danger from steep inclines in which to slide, for there are none there."

-oOo-

Because Jesus loved us so much, He desired to be loved very much by us; and therefore He did everything that He could, even by suffering for us, in order to conciliate our love, and to show that there was nothing more that He could do to make us love Him. "He endured much weariness", says St. Bernard, "that He might bind man to love Him much."